BEIRUT – The state funeral in Beirut of an assassinated Lebanese intelligence chief ended in violence Sunday as angry mourners broke away and tried to storm the offices of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, prompting security forces to shoot in the air and fire tear gas to repulse them. During funeral orations for slain police intelligence chief General Wissam Al-Hassan, angry former premier Fuad Siniora called on Mikati to resign, adding his voice to many others since Hassan was killed in a car bombing Friday. Siniora, parliamentary chief for opposition leader Saad Hariri, said the “government is responsible for the crime that killed Wissam and his chauffeur. That is why he must go.” “Mikati, you cannot stay in your post to cover up this crime,” he said. “If you stay, it means you agree with what happened and what will happen.” The opposition has widely accused Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad of being behind the attack, which killed two other people and wounded 126. Thousands turned out in downtown Beirut's Martyrs' Square for Hassan's funeral, which also served as a political rally. A group marched to the prime minister's office, then overturned barriers, pulled apart barbed wire coils and threw stones, steel rods and bottle at soldiers and police. Security forces responded by shooting into air and firing teargas, forcing the protesters to scatter. Opposition leader Saad Hariri urged supporters to refrain from any more violence. “We want peace, the government should fall but we want that in a peaceful way. I call on all those who are in the streets to pull back,” Hariri told supporters after the attack, speaking on the Future Television channel. However as night fell groups of youths blocked the road to the international airport with piles of burning tires. The highway south to Sidon was also cut. Hassan, 47, had helped uncover a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of a pro-Assad former Lebanese minister. – Agencies
